1. Field of the Invention
This invention involves the alteration of an existing golf club shaft.
2. Description of the Problem and Related Art
A golf shaft can be improved by increasing feedback (which is also referred to as feel) that the shaft gives the golfer when the club strikes a ball while maintaining the original flexure of the golf shaft. A golf shaft with technical properties to properly fit a golfer, i.e. shaft flex (or amount of stiffness) makes it difficult for the golfer to get necessary club to ball feedback without sacrificing the shaft properties that influence the ball flight characteristics.
For example, to achieve good feel by the golfer the shaft is made too flexible for the golfer""s swing requirements. Feel, which is the feeling of club to ball contact, is given up by the golfer by keeping properly fitted flex properties of the golf shaft. The thickness of the shaft reduces vibration (which enhances feel of the club to ball contact) to the point where the golfer uses ill-fitted golf clubs to produce the feel desired, thus sacrificing ball flight and the desired swing principles. For example, the golfer who generates substantial club head speed must sacrifice performance of the club for feel at impact with a ball. The reason is the golf shaft wall thickness required to match a swing speed of a golfer must increase to match the swing characteristics of the golfer. Increasing the wall thickness of the shaft will stiffen the shaft flex and as a result reduce the feel transferred to the golfer""s hands at impact. The feel is important because it gives the golfer the satisfaction of a well struck golf shot. This is important because the golfer will attempt to reproduce that same feel to try to consistently strike a golf ball the same and reproduce that same good golf shot. This is a golfer""s ultimate feedback.
The problem becomes one of giving a golfer the correct shaft flex while at the same time providing the desired feel for feedback.
We have no knowledge of any attempted solution to this problem by anyone. Our invention is directed to a solution to the problem.
In an effort to create a softer feedback (feel) from the golf shaft we established a golf shaft alteration technique that effectively delivers this feel without compromising the performance or integrity of the shaft. This technique will enable a golf professional to properly fit a golfer with the proper shaft flex without sacrificing feel and as a result, without sacrificing performance.
We provide a method for altering a golf club shaft by providing a metal golf club shaft having a hollow interior with an interior wall surface, an exterior wall surface, a butt end, a tip end and a flex zone sixteen inches from the butt with a range one inch up and one inch down from the measured sixteen inch point. We remove less than five grams of metal from the interior wall surface in the flex zone without penetrating through the exterior wall surface. We preferably remove metal by a cutting bit inserted into the hollow interior shaft and removing metal shavings from the interior wall surface. The cutting bit is between one half inches and three quarter inches diameter. We continuously monitor the weight of metal being removed by either weighing the metal shavings being removed or by removing the metal and weighing the shaft.
A one-half to three-quarter inch placement drill bit is inserted into the golf shaft at the butt end and lowered into the shaft to the flex zone (sixteen inches from the butt of the club with a range of one inch up and one inch down from the measured sixteen inch point). The drill bit is used to drill out up to five grams of shaft weight to improve the feel and maintain the integrity (flexure properties) of the golf shaft.
This invention is intended to alter the present golf shaft while maintaining the essential properties of flex and durability of the golf shaft.